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On 29 June 2023 the EU Regulation on deforestation-free products entered into force (EUDR). Under the Regulation any operator or trader that places regulated commodities on the EU marke, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation.<\/p>\n
The regulated commodities include wood products alongside soy, beef, palm oil, cocoa, coffee and rubber. The EUDR repeals the EU Timber Regulation. As of 29 June 2023 operators and traders have 18 months to implement the new rules. Operators classified as small or micro enterprises (SMEs) which have up to 250 employees and annual turnover of up to \u20ac50 million have 24 months to comply.<\/p>\n
Intensive work will be undertaken during the next 18 months by the European Commission, in consultation with Member States and other stakeholders, to prepare for its implementation. This will include the following activities: Definition and development of guidelines and tools to comply with the requirements of the EUDR: the European Commission has decided to establish 2 working groups (including at least one representative of the timber sector): \"Traceability\" group (including due diligence requirements) \"Smallholder Inclusion\" group<\/p>\n
These groups will assist the \u201cmulti-stakeholder platform\u201d in gathering information and elements that can be used to interpret the requirements and facilitate the implementation of the regulation. Participants in these groups will be members of the platform. (Note that members of the platform comprise the Commission, Member States Authorities and \u201cstakeholders\u201d, all the latter being identified as \u201cEuropean\u201d or \u201cEuropean\/International\u201d trade and business associations and NGOs. Third Country (i.e. non EU) government representatives are also invited to attend sessions of the platform involving stakeholder input. However, trade associations and civil society organisations without specific European representation are not invited to these sessions.)<\/p>\n
Country risk benchmarking: the European Commission will classify countries, or certain regions, as low, standard or high risk within 18 months of the regulation coming into force. Products from \u201clow risk\u201d countries will be subject to a simplified due diligence procedure. Controls on operators will vary according to the risk level assigned to the source country of regulated commodities.<\/p>\n
The development and operationalization of the information system (Register) to allow operators to submit their due diligence declarations for each consignment of regulated commodities placed or exported from the EU market and to verify declarations that are already registered. This register will be interconnected with the customs, and accessible to the Member State competent authorities to establish their controls.<\/p>\n
Preferred by Nature (formerly NEPCon), an NGO and certification organisation, has been organising a series of events, both online and in-person, to dive deeper into the EUDR requirements and how companies can comply with them.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On 29 June 2023 the EU Regulation on deforestation-free products entered into force (EUDR). Under the Regulation any operator or trader that places regulated commodities on the EU marke, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the … Continue reading